For Granted
by Twitchy Mongoose
Summary: Sirius learned the hard way not to take things for granted. [slash; RL/SB] [MWPP days]


For Granted  
  
A/N- I'm looking for a beta currently. If you're interested in doing so, please email doompaw@hotmail.com  
  
Chapter One (betaed by Duckyy)  
  
Remus waved good-bye to his parents. It was the seventh and last time he'd do so before slipping through the wall onto the Hogwart's Express platform, dragging along with him an old beaten suitcase. A frown made itself evident on his face as he noticed a seam threatening to break on his book bag, muttering obscenities as he whipped out his wand, growling irritably at it.  
  
"And there's Moony!" Something collided with him as he raised the length of wood, causing his spell to go haywire, all of the threads snapping. With a loud, "Fuck!" expelling from his mouth, he hit the ground with a less than happy expression etched on his face.  
  
"Aren'tcha happy to see me?" Sirius grinned down at his tackled friend, sitting on top of his stomach, a mischievous glint flickering in his pale brown eyes, shoulder length dark hair untamed and flying.  
  
Remus's throat suddenly constricted with the sight of his friend, breath caught in his throat. A lurch of the stomach, and a sudden anxious flutter, but it all passed within a few moments. Remus pushed his friend off him, rolling his eyes, "I would've been, but you know, you kinda just extinguished the flame when you decided I would make a good chair."  
  
With a snort of laughter, James pulled his best friend up off the werewolf, "Leave Moony alone, I think he's traumatized enough by the sight of your face."  
  
"Not funny." Sirius shook his head, winking slyly at the two, "Too bad you guys can't charm girls like Black here can. . ."  
  
Remus's heart gave a funny jolt, and a stab of pain reminding him all too much. With a playful punch on the shoulder, James shook his head at Sirius, "Shut up Black, even the Black charms won't work on her."  
  
It was obvious who James was talking about, the object of his obsessions for way too long. Remus stifled a smirk, and Sirius was looking bored again, raising an eyebrow at his bespectacled friend, "Oh can't I Potter?"  
  
"We're gonna be late. Any clue where Peter is?" Remus turned his attention to his severed bag, repairing it with a quick charm. Crouching, Sirius helped collect what damage he had managed to cause, James scanning the waning crowd, "Dunno where he is. Hurry though, the train's gonna leave."  
  
With a final shove into the bag, the mess inside not up to the usual tidy Remus standards, Moony stood up, surveying the crowd before shrugging and lifting the bag to his shoulders while James grabbed his suitcase. Apparently Sirius thought himself too high and mighty for such work.  
  
"Well boys." Sirius turned around, walking backwards to flash a grin at his friends, "Looks like we're at the end of it all. Master's of the school. Last chance to hook ourselves up with a pretty girl."  
  
Remus snorted softly, averting his eyes to the worn suitcase being dragged along on the ground. Hadn't they noticed that he hadn't tried to make himself friendly with a girl since his second year?  
  
"And I'm gonna make sure you're not leaving alone this year, Moony." Sirius finished with a triumphant look, causing Remus to snap his head up, blinking warily. So they had noticed after all.  
  
As if reading his thoughts, James continued for Sirius, "Don't think we haven't noticed your prude attitude." He shook a finger mockingly at the werewolf, "And I really think we could help with a push in the right direction."  
  
Paling slightly in the dim light Remus shook his head, "You guys are demented. If I saw someone I was even slightly attracted to, I'd ask her out. I don't need your help."  
  
And there was always that one voice in the back of his head, calling out mockingly. Right, you don't need their help. Nervously running a hand through his light brown hair, he pulled his suitcase into the compartment they had chosen, murmuring quietly to himself, "And besides, how could they help you?"  
  
"Talking to yourself-always a sign of insanity."  
  
Three heads instantly looked up, all spotting a sneering Snape passing by the sliding door. Temper flaring, Sirius instantly stood up, always willing to pick a fight with someone, "And what's that supposed to mean, Snivellus? Gonna try all three of us alone this time? Where're your pals, huh?"  
  
Pausing in his journey, Snape straightened and stared hard at Sirius, mouth opening for a comeback. James rose to his feet, wand out and jabbed towards Snape, "Think hard about your answer."  
  
With a scowl, Snape turned and continued on down the hall. Remus stared down after him before directing his silver eyes back towards his friends, quietly voicing his thoughts, "I feel kinda sorry for him."  
  
James shoved his wand back into his pocket, growling, "Don't." Flashing a glance out the window, he noted that the train had finally started. Green scenery rolled past, hills, pastures and emerald forests. . .  
  
"Where've you been Peter?" James jolted back to reality, smiling up at the smallest of their gang. Sirius had leapt to his feet, helping him to drag his suitcase in.  
  
"Nowhere. . . Looking for you guys."  
  
"So the Marauder gang has finally reassembled." A girl with red tinted brown hair leaned against the door, a smile gracing her lips, green hued eyes sparkling in the window filtered sunlight. Sirius smiled back at her, wry grin playing on his face, "Scared babe?"  
  
"Please Sirius." Lily rolled her eyes, "Leave your charms to someone who cares." Sirius ignored the death glare he was receiving from behind, Peter settling down next to Remus, watching the scene play out with an amused expression.  
  
Sirius surveyed the girl for a few moments before sticking out his tongue and turning to Remus, "Fine. I will then. Heya Moony, baby."  
  
"Boys. So immature."  
  
For the second time that day, Remus paled and coughed slightly, oblivious to the laughter that rang through the compartment. Biting his lip, he excused himself and brushed past Lily to bolt from the room. Sirius stared out after him with a bewildered and a slightly hurt expression on his face, "What's up with him?"  
  
"Homophobic? Dunno." At Peter's words (James had melted into a pile of babbling mush because Lily was there) Sirius felt a sinking feeling writhe through his stomach. Any other time, he would have started to make fun of the way James was responding to Lily's one sided conversation with him, but now he just sat there, staring at the space that Remus had occupied earlier.  
  
Remus had fled down the train, a ghostly color, panic seeping through to show on his face. Had Sirius known? Why did he do that? The concept of it all being a joke didn't absorb itself into his mind, paranoia gnawing away at the back of his head. He placed a twitching hand onto the train wall, staring at it through blurred vision as if it contained the answer to life.  
  
It had started in fourth year, everything had gone wrong that one night they had too much to drink, and played a game of truth or dare. With the first taste of Sirius, he knew he was addicted. And every year unwanted feelings had crawled through his mind, receding as the year drew to an end, and flaring up bright again at the beginning of a new school year. And for the last two years, the cycle had repeated itself, leaving behind a snarling wolf and a weary human.  
  
Taking a shaky breath, he concluded that he was just overreacting, and silently chided himself. With a fake smile plastered onto his face, he drowned his werewolf instincts to destroy and kill, and made his way slowly towards their compartment.  
  
Lily and Sirius seemed to have left, and James and Peter were talking eagerly about Quidditch as Remus entered the room. Blinking up, James flashed the werewolf a slight smile, "You might wanna change into your robes, save you the trouble when people start crowding into the bathroom."  
  
Remus smiled gratefully for the reminder, as much as he trusted his friends, he never relished the thought of changing before them. He gathered up an armful of his school uniform and turned back out into the hall.  
  
As he entered the small compartment the train managers called a bathroom, a familiar relieved voice rang in his ear, "Moony, I'm so glad you've come. I think James put a sticking spell on my shirt, so it's stuck to my hair. And I'm not about to cut it, and I don't know the counterspell."  
  
Remus whirled around, only to be greeted with Sirius with his shirt halfway on, and stuck to his hair and arms. He couldn't help but left his eyes travel up the slightly tanned skin of Sirius's torso, finally resting on the section of furrowed forehead he could see. With a sigh of resignation, he pulled out his wand from his back pocket and pointed it at his friend, muttering the counterspell. Sirius finished pulling the shirt on and eyed his robe suspiciously.  
  
Remus backed out of the small compartment, shaking his head, "You know, you should really learn how to lock the door. Would've been interesting to see what would happen if Snape walked in."  
  
He proceeded to close the door behind him when a hand closed on his forearm, dark eyes staring at him concernedly, "Wait Moony."  
  
Biting his lip again, he turned around, trying to tear his wrist from the grasp, but not moving.  
  
"Why did you run?"  
  
"I. . . Just remembered. . . That I needed to talk to someone."  
  
Sirius obviously saw right through the lie, but released him, nodding slightly, "Right. Here, take the bathroom, I was just waiting for you to show up." Without another word, Sirius left, pulling on his robe as he went, which surprisingly didn't stick.  
  
Remus closed the door after him, locking it, then sliding down the wall, eyes screwed shut. They hadn't even gotten to school and Sirius was most likely mad at him. Changing quickly into his robes, he ran a hand through his hair, silently pondering the rise of the next full moon. With another sigh, he picked up his clothes and stepped back out into the hall.  
  
Trying not to think too much about what just happened, or anything related to Sirius for that matter, Remus wandered back towards their compartment. But it was hard, as everything seemed to connect Sirius back to him.  
  
Settling back into his seat, he instantly noticed Sirius's absence from the small room, forcing himself to direct his attention to the Quidditch conversation that the two Marauders were still having.  
  
Dozing off, Remus tried to keep his eyes open, but the steady roaring of the smooth glide of train on tracks lulling him to sleep.  
  
Dreaming like all the time before. Following the huge shaggy figure of Padfoot into the forest, a looming sense of gloom following, or was it ahead? A full moon flickering ahead, a beacon above the treetops. . .  
  
"The almighty Sirius has returned!" Sirius plopped himself down the seat across from Remus, smiling as the werewolf was roused from his nap, blinking sleepily at his friend.  
  
"And guess what?" James looked up at his best friend with a curious glance, gaze resting on the huge grin that was obvious on his face. Remus looked mildly interested, Peter turning his head to stare out the window, listening.  
  
"I just asked Tera out, and she said yes."  
  
It was obvious Sirius hadn't wasted any time at all to get his year started. 


End file.
